Slender Man Game – Myth & History

The indie horror game from Parsec Productions, Slender: The Eight Pages, has a long history to thank for its success. Experience a part of that history, because Game Front has a Slender Man download ready. Don’t walk into the slew of new Slender indie titles completely blind, because Game Front is here to provide a quick overview for ol’ Slendy; what he is, where he came from, and what else he’s inspired. There’s lots more to Slender Man, so don’t expect a totally comprehensive retrospective, we’re just here to provide perspective on this paranormal creature born from the internet’s collective curiosity.

Slender Man is a mythical creature with many descriptions but always with several common elements.

The creature named Slender Man is an unnaturally tall figure (6-15 ft.) with especially long arms. It appears most often in a black suit jacket, white shirt, and black tie with a completely featureless blank white face.

Slender Man is always a malevolent force, sometimes able to control the length of its arms at will or sprout black tentacles protruding from its back.

The creature doesn’t attack its victims directly, instead hunting and torturing targets for years at a time. Exposure to Slender Man is said to cause coughing fits, paranoia, insomnia, memory loss, and strange visual distortions. Prolonged contact can cause insanity, and in some versions, can control the minds of his victims.

With no clear motivations, it’s difficult to understand Slender Man’s behavior, and there is no single explanation. Due to Slender Man’s internet popularity, there are many versions with a variety of minor changes, but always keeping the image of a barely perceptible tall faceless figure.

After its initial creation, Slender Man spread into various ARGs (Alternate Reality Games), with Wikis dedicated to the character springing up, like the Slender Man Wiki, and even large-scale fan networks.

Inspiration

The Slender Man may have been inspired by another horror-figure. The “Tall Man” by Ben ‘Yahtzee’ Crenshaw (of Zero Punctuation fame) in his series of indie “CHZO Mythos” adventure games is noticeably similar in design.

The Tall Man first appears in “Trilby’s Notes” released in 2003. He is a tall, lanky figure in a black trenchcoat and white blank face. The Tall Man slowly stalks the hero as he searches for answers in an old hotel.

Other Media Inspired by Slender Man

The creation of Slender Man has inspired multiple ARG projects, one of the most popular is a series of “found-footage” videos called Marble Hornets.

The Endermen in Minecraft are said to be inspired by the Slender Man. These tall black creatures appear randomly at night, and have the ability to teleport around the map at will.

They often pick up blocks to move around for no discernible purpose. They are also completely passive, until the player places their crosshair over an Enderman. When targeted, the Endermen will freeze in place. Once the crosshair is removed, the Enderman will become aggressive, either charging the player to attack or teleporting.

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